Psychosocial risk management
Health and safety risks to workers include both physical and psychological injury risk. In relation to work a psychosocial risk is an adverse workplace interaction or condition of work that compromises your health and wellbeing.
In general, undertaking work activities are accepted to be good for your psychological and physical wellbeing. However, there are aspects of work that, if not appropriately managed, have the potential to negatively affect an individual’s mental health, sense of wellbeing, physical health, as well as the effectiveness of an organization to fulfil its operational requirements.
What is psychological safety?
A psychologically healthy and safe workplace is defined as one that:
- promotes your mental health and wellbeing
- protects mental health by reducing work-related risk factors, and
- works to prevent mental illness and injury from occurring.
Psychological safety within a team is an important foundation to address workplace hazards, and to foster a culture of learning, teamwork and continuous improvement. It is the shared belief that you can speak up, make suggestions and admit mistakes without fear of being humiliated or punished. A psychologically safe environment is not one that is risk free, but one where concerns or ideas can be raised with confidence they will be respectfully considered or responded to by team members.
Reporting psychosocial hazards and incidents
All psychosocial hazards and incidents should be reported in UQ Safe. You should also raise concerns with your immediate supervisor or, if this is not possible a Human Resources or Safety representative. For more information, including details on additional referral and reporting options, please see the reporting psychosocial hazards and incidents webpage.
Types of psychosocial hazards and good practice tips
Workplace factors that may contribute to psychological injuries include
- elements of the work environment
- management practices
- the way that work is organised or designed.
The following list provides some quick guides on the types of psychosocial hazards and good practice tips:
- high and low job demands
- low job control
- poor support
- poor organisational change management
- poor organisational justice
- low recognition and reward
- low role clarity or role conflict
- poor workplace relationships
- remote and isolated work
- exposure to traumatic events or materials
- work-related violence and aggression
- bullying
- harassment, including sexual harassment & sex or gender-based harassment
- poor environmental conditions.
For more information about psychological safety and the types of psychosocial risks, read the UQ psychological safety and wellbeing guide.
Psychosocial risk assessments
As part of effective risk management UQ workplaces are required to undertake risk assessments for psychosocial hazards relevant in their work area. These hazards may be present in teams, processes or work activities, or the work environment for example. Psychosocial hazards should also be considered in broader risk assessments for projects, tasks or events. Risk assessments should be entered into UQSafe-Risk.
- UQ Tip Sheet: Psychosocial Risk Assessment
- UQ Psychosocial Risk Assessment Supporting tool
- Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) Psychosocial Risk Assessment tool
- Enterprise Goverance and Risk: Risk Matrix
People at Work
The People at Work program is a risk management process developed to identify, assess and manage psychosocial hazards.
This approach follows a five step process to identify, assess and control risks to psychological health at work. Part of this approach is implementing the People at Work survey in work areas. This survey is a validated psychosocial risk assessment survey and assesses psychosocial risks and factors.
Managing psychosocial risks
Psychosocial risks must be managed in the same systematic way as other workplace health and safety risks. The Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022 provides practical guidance on how to meet obligations under the WHS Act (2011) in relation to psychosocial risk management.
The Code emphasises the importance of applying the hierarchy of controls to work-related psychosocial hazards, as you would with physical hazards. This ensures higher order- or more effective- control measures are implemented in the first instance wherever possible rather than relying predominantly on methods such as adminstrative controls. All of these steps must be supported by consultation.
Psychosocial Hazards- Guidance Material for Managers
Summary poster: Psychosocial Hazards for Supervisors (PDF, 241.3 KB) (developed by EAIT)
Workday training module: Understanding and Managing Psychosocial Risk for Supervisors
UQ's Enterprise level Psychosocial Risks Mitigation Strategies
Taking Action-Example Controls
WHSQ has produced a helpful guideline that outlines control measures to support eliminating or minimising psychosocial hazards.
UQ psychological supports and interventions
Ideally, work related factors influencing your psychological wellbeing should be addressed at the primary or organisational level. However, in addition to managing psychosocial risk, best practice for mentally healthy workplaces also includes:
- promotion of individual health and wellbeing
- early intervention for staff with health factors impacting on work
- support, recovery and return to work options.
Our UQ resources include:
2024-25 'Psychological Health and Safety Master Action Plan'
The UQ Psychological Health and Safety Master Action Plan is a collaborative plan that integrates inter-connected issues arising from HSW psychosocial risks and Respect at Work obligations. This plan contains short term, medium term and long term actions with full implementation by the end of Q4 2025.
View the UQ Psychological Health and Safety Master Action Plan
The UQ Psychological Health Statement provides more information - outlining the genesis of the Master Action Plan, and strategies that have been and are being undertaken to manage psychosocial risks. This includes the working groups and governance structure overseeing identified actions.
Resources
Psychosocial Risk Assessment Resources
- UQ Tip Sheet: Psychosocial Risk Assessment
- UQ Psychosocial Risk Assessment Supporting tool
- Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) Psychosocial Risk Assessment tool
- Enterprise Goverance and Risk: Risk Matrix
Managing psychosocial risks
- Psychosocial Hazards- Guidance Material for Managers
- Summary poster: Psychosocial Hazards for Supervisors (PDF, 241.3 KB) (developed by EAIT)
- Webinar - Managing psychosocial risks for healthier and more productive workplaces (presented by Sam Popple for Safe Work Month 2024)
- Workday training module: Understanding and Managing Psychosocial Risk for Supervisors
- Governance and responsibilities
- Training and induction
- Incidents, injuries and hazards
- Health and safety risk management
- Biosafety, chemicals and radiation
- Ergonomics and manual tasks
- Health, safety and wellness events
- Noise and hearing
- Work off-campus and fieldwork
- Plant, equipment and built environment safety
- Mould in Indoor Spaces
- Psychosocial risk management
- Immunisation and disease screening